Clara Bowring, in Poodles, 1960, showed photographs depicting Poodles with various hairstyles engaged in many different activities. Almost all photographs were by German photographers, presumably of German Poodles. She also had a description of 'very charming' parti-colored Poodles.

German Poodles Black & White -- Engraving from 1881 Cassell's The Book of the Dog

Richard Ansdell 1815-1885

A quote from Vero Shaw's The Illustrated Book of the Dog (London: 1879-1887) regarding the Poodle: "The black . . . is best and hardiest, and thus less susceptible to fatigue, hunger and danger . . . the spotted or pied, the best on scent and for intelligence; and the liver colored, the most alert and the best swimmer . . . The jet black dog with white feet stands high in estimation."

Parti and crane

Les Tondeuses de Chiens" J.J. Chalon 1852

(Note on right the parti-color Poodle in the lower right corner.)

J. Jack 1857

John Ferneley Sr. 1818

Mounton 1892 Nevison-Loraine

George Stubbs 1724-1803

Henry Bernard Chalon 1802

Samual-Carter 1870

From The Illustrated Kennel News (Dec. 1912) an article by Nellie Dagois titled The Poodle and His History: "This race of dogs has the head rather large and round, the cerebral space more developed than in other canine, the frontal sinus expanded, the ears long, the legs rather short, and the body compact; the hair over every part of the animal long, curly, black, or white and black, sometimes rufous (red) . . ."

In William Youatt's, The Dog - 1854, under "The Poodle" there is a larger parti-colored water-dog type (opposite). This unclipped, undocked black and white Poodle is shown with a smaller sized Poodle in a more traditional Poodle clip.

Writings, drawings and paintings from the 1700's and 1800's have many examples of the parti-color Poodle. In fact, several historical books about dogs show, under the heading "The Poodle," a drawing or painting of a Poodle which is parti colored such as the ones opposite and below.

1749-1789. Georges Louis Leclerc, compte de Buffon, published numerous volumes of his Histoire Naturelle Generale et Particulie. In one there is a parti-coloured Water-dog with moderate curly coat and clipped pom-poms standing alertly in front of rushes.

1749, Hans Fredrich von Fleming in The Complete Hunter wrote: ". . . in order that they swim better, their thick hair is taken off, a good beard and eyebrows remain, and the tail is docked. Because of their beard, the French call them (barbe) Barbet. These Water dogs are mostly brown, though often white with brown spots, or even black."